Leaving the kitchen, I glanced into the living room where Alec and Craig were in a full-on glare-off. Someone had turned the console games on and there was a game frozen on the screen.
“I’m not hurting you,” Craig hurled back. “And you’re grounded from the Xbox until you catch up on your projects.”
“That doesn’t count this weekend, jerk.” As furious as he sounded and the threats he’d issued, Alec kept his hands at his sides, even if he flexed and curled his fingers like he wanted to punch something. “That’s my game. You didn’t even ask.”
“Cause you would have said ‘no,’” Craig retorted. My brothers were so different from each other, except when they weren’t. At thirteen going on fourteen, Alec had hit a growth spurt over the summer. He was easily as tall as me now. I had a feeling he'd catch up to the guys rather spontaneously at some point.
“You’re such a pain in the ass. Ugh.”
“Well, you’re an asshole!”
“Boys,” I said quietly, and they both jerked around to look at me. The age difference was just two years, but Alec really towered over Craig and Chloe at the moment. Puberty sucked. I wasn’t so far removed from it that I didn’t remember that. “Alec, come give me a hand, and, Craig, you can play a game that isn’t one that belongs to Alec.”
“Awww,” they both protested in almost the exact same tone. But Alec’s scowl deepened, and for the first time since I met him, he actively glared at me. I hated to break this to him, and I probably would refrain unless he was too much of a little shit, but he was kind of adorable still. And Jake had a much meaner scowl.
Come to think of it, so did Coop. He didn’t get mad often, but when he did—hello.
“Or you can go up to your room while I talk to Alec,” I informed Craig. “But what you aren’t going to do is get away with being rude. He’s your brother. He’s not asking you to do much, except to ask before you touch his things. It’s just common courtesy. I know for a fact what Kelly would do. So keep pushing me.”
For a second, Alec’s fierce frown vanished as amusement flashed in his eyes. No sooner did that happen than he screwed his face back up into something terse. “Mom said we were to behave for Frankie.”
“You know what, Alec,” Craig said as he clenched his fists as if he were ready to launch at him. “You’re a jerk. I’m going upstairs.” He bumped his shoulder against Alec hard as he passed him, though it didn’t do much to move his much larger brother. Craig stomped all the way up the stairs and then a door slammed.
“He’s such a baby sometimes,” Alec muttered.
“And you were an ass, but we don’t all grow up at the same time or at the same rate.” The oven beeped behind me and I jerked my head toward the kitchen. “Let’s go. We should talk before lunch.”
I walked back into the kitchen and waited for him to join me. I’d put potato skins in the oven cause the kids all liked them and so did I. It was a chilly weekend that kept threatening snow, but so far, none had fallen. Kelly and Hank were away for the weekend, going to some school thing, or maybe it was a work thing for Kelly.
Honestly, I didn’t remember. It was a weekend with the kids and I’d looked forward to it. Archie was supposed to come up with me, but he’d gotten tied up with some component that kept failing, and when he and Jake vanished down that rabbit hole, I told him it would be fine if I went on my own. As much as I liked having the guys here, it was good for me to just get to know the kids.
Normally, we didn’t have these issues. They argued, but I’d never seen them so angry with each other. Maybe I needed to be around more for that. The door to the kitchen opened, and Alec walked in. He frowned at me as I pulled out the tray of potato skins and then slid a second one in.
“Did you really just call me an ass?”
“Yep.”
“You know, Mom doesn’t like that kind of language.”
“Really?” I pursed my lips. “Huh. Learn something new every day.”
“She doesn’t like when we use it or when it’s directed at us. In fact,” Alec continued, folding his arms and raising his chin like he was about to give me a lecture, “she disapproves of that type of language entirely. I don’t think she’d care for your attitude.”
“Entirely possible,” I agreed with him as I picked off a piece of the bacon from one of the potato skins and munched on it. “What do you think she’d say about your behavior?”
“I think she’d be disappointed in me, then wonder what kind of example you were setting. You realize that Craig and Chloe are a little young for this kind of language.”
Oh boy. “How old were you when you learned to cuss?”
“We’re not talking about me,” Alec said. While he didn’t stomp his foot, he looked pretty pissed. “You’re supposed to be the big sister here, setting the example. I told you this, remember? What kind of an example is calling me an ass?”
“Calling a spade a spade.” I picked up one of the potato skins and leaned back against the counter. “Alec, you’re thirteen, not thirty. You were pissed because Craig was playing your game when you’re not allowed to. It had nothing to do with him touching your stuff. It had to do with him touching something you’re not allowed to touch. So, you were bullying him cause you’re bigger and you’re older. You use your size and your attitude—”
When he opened his mouth to protest, I held up a hand.
“Zip it. You asked a question, I’m answering.”
He glared at me, but I didn’t blink as I met him stare for stare. I could go toe to toe with Jake in this mood. He did not worry me in the slightest.
“Fine,” Alec declared, flopping his arms around then folding them as he dug his heels in stubbornly. He’d listen, but he didn’t want to, so I better make it good.
That explained some of my own temper. Maybe Hank’s laid-back attitude masked a temper too. Food for thought.
“That fight with Craig wasn’t about Craig. So, tell me what it was about,” I said, switching tactics. “And come eat, cause while I can eat all of these, I am supposed to make sure you guys eat too. The second tray can be for Chloe and Craig when they come down.”
“Why do you think something is wrong?” Bewilderment cracked through his stony expression. “You were just saying I was bullying my brother.” The last definitely insulted him.
“You were, but according to you—and to Jake’s sisters—picking on your younger siblings is a sign of love. However, sometimes, especially when you’re already irritated, they’re just easier targets.” Blake and Becca got into it like that a lot. Not with Louisa so much.
“Are you filming me?” He twisted to look around the kitchen, and I blinked.
“Why would I be filming you?”
“To put it on TikTok or something about pranking your younger brother.” He looked moderately outraged.
“Well, while that might be funny, I’m not. I had too many people post pictures of me and rip on me on social media when I was in high school. I’d never do that to someone else.”